Safety device for gas pilots



NOV. 6, 1934. w s A R ET AL 1,980,120

SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS FILOTS Filed July 6, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 6, 1934. w. s. WALKER ET AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS PILOTS Filed July 6, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES Qfm Nov. 6, 1934. w. s. WALKER ET AL SAFETY DEVICE FOR GAS PILOTS Filed July 6, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 6 5 0 n N 9 M a u D :W 8 N .L. H a V [m m lNVENTORfi woods 8- Wat/fer fiyyue F'orberg I M/r ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 6 1934 UNITED TAT SAFETY DEVICE FORGAS PILO'IVS Woods S. Walker and Trygve' Forb erg New York, N. Y., assignors to The Consolidated Gas Company of New York,'New York, N. Y., a corporan tion of New York Application'J uly 6,1933, Serial No. 679,223

2 Claims.

This invention relates to safety devices and particularly to an improved safety device used on a gas stove, range or the like, whereby whenever the pilot goes out for any reason the flow of gas will be almost instantaneously turned off.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved construction which may be applied to pilots for gas burning apparatus of any kind and functions to turn off the supply of gas to the gas burning apparatus whenever the pilot goes out.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety device for pilot lights for gas stoves and the like wherein a thermostat is used to control the turning off of the valve inserted into the supply main of the stove.

A further object, more specifically, is'to provide a safety device for gas ranges, stoves and the like wherein a valve is arranged in the gas supply line and associated with manually actuated means for opening the same, Withautomatically actuated means for closing the valve, and with a thermostatic control by the pilot in the stove or range for determining and controlling the actuations of the automatically actuated means.

In the accompanying drawings-.

Figure 1 is a top plan view in dot-and-dash lines showing a gas range with an embodiment of the invention applied thereto;

' Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section through Figure 1 approximately on the line 2--2, showing the parts in operating position with the pilot burning properly; V V

Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 but showing the position of the parts when'the pilot goes out;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional View through Figure 2 on the line 4-4;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in section, the same being taken approximately on 40 the line 55 of Figure 1 and illustrating the gas control valve and associated control means coacting therewith;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through Figure5 on the line 6-6; V

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view through Figure 5 on the line '77; 1

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 5 but showing a slightly modified construction; I

Figure 9 is a sectional viewthrough Figure 8 approximately 011 the line 99;

Figure 10 is a sectional View through Figure 8 approximately on the line 10-10.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by numerals, 1 indicates a stove or gas range provided with a number of burners 2 and an oven 3.

The burners'2 are connected by suitable ignition pipes 4 so that the single pilot 5 when lighted will provide a flame 6 which will ignite the gas passing through any of the pipes 4. Ordinarily the flame 6 is continually in existence so that when the gas is turned on in any of the burners 2, gas will flow through the nearest pipe 4 and be ignited by the flame 6 so that the particular burner will be fully ignited almost instantly. The structure just described is old and well known and therefore forms no part of the presentinvention except in combination.

In addition to the pilot 5 there is a pilot '7 for the oven 3, said pilot being identical with pilot 5. Two pilots have been shown in'Figure 1 but, if desired, more could be used without departing-from the spirit of the invention, or lesscould be used. Associated with each of the pilots there is a construction taken with a valve 8 and associated parts which forms the safety devicea'or structure, whereby the gas is turned off automatically whenever either of the pilots goes out. As the respective pilots are identical and the devices associated therewith are identical a de-' scription of one will apply to both.

' As illustrated-in Figures 2 and 3, there is provided what may be termed an actuating structure 9 for the pilot 5. This actuating structure consists of acasing 10 of metal, said'casing'being completely open at the end 11 and provided with a small opening 12 at the opposite end. The casing 10 is formed with an extension 13 having a boss 14 which fits over the pilot 5 and snugly fits the same in a way whereby the various parts are supportedon the pi10t. ;'.A thermostat 15 is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured at 16 to the-extension 13, said thermostat having a straight sec-' tion 17 and a curved section 18, said curved section being placed over the flame 6 so as to be heated thereby. When the flame 6 is operating the thermostat 15 remains'in the position shown in Figure 2 with the straight section 17 acting as an abutment for holding the sliding block 19 in the correct position in the casing 10. Thisblo'ck is provided with an aperture into which the core wire of the slide wire 21 is inserted. A clamping screw 22 acts to clamp the end'of wire 20 in the block 19 so that a spring 23 may act on the-end of block 19 and pull the wire'20 to the right, as shown in Figure 2. Spring23' acts against the end'12 so that it constantly has a tendency to urge the block 19 to the right. As shown in Fig-' ure 2 the end 12' has'an integral extension 24 to which a clamping sleeve 25 is'secured by any suitable means as, for instance, by the clamping screws 26. In this way one end of the slide wire 21 is rigidly clamped to the casing 10, while wire 20 has one end rigidly clamped to the block 19. When the thermostat is functioning as shown in Figure 2, spring 23 cannot move block 19, but when the flame 6 goes out and the thermostat begins to cool, section 1'7 will swing upwardly and out of the way of the end of the block 19 so that the block will quickly move to the right as shown in Figure 3, until section 17 strikes the end portion 29. The sliding of block 29 in this manner pulls the wire 20 and in doing so actuates the valve 8 as hereinafter fully described whereby the same is closed, thus shutting offthe gas to the entire stove or range. 1. The gas remains shut off until it is manually turned on.

As shown in Figure 5 means has been provided for regulating the action of valve 8. Valve 8 may be any desired type of spring actuated valve. As shown, valve 8 has a seat 28 and a valve member 2,9..actuated' by aspring 30. A .rod 31 extends; from the valve member 29 to a point .ex teriorly of. the valve so thatthe valve may be opened against the action of spring 30. A brack- 5 et 32 is rigidly secured to the valve 8, said bracket having a pair ofears 33 and an arm 34. The end of .rod 31 extends through the bracket 32 and bears on the operating face 35v of the swinging,cam .36, which cam-is pivotally mounted at 37. on the ears 32. The cam 36 is provided with stops 38 and 39. whereby the swinging movement of the cam will be limited. The surface 35 has What may betermed a. high point and .a low point, the position of the cam 35 showing the high point engaging the end of rod 31 for hold..

ing, the valve member. 39 open. When the wire 20 ispulled as above mentioned, it will pullflgthc' cam 36 over to the dotted position'gshownin Fig,-

ure, 5, whereupon the low point on the cam surfaoe35 will be opposite rod 31 andthe spring 30 will then function to close the valve member 29,. thus shutting off the gas to the various" burne.

ers 2. Where there is only one pilot there will be only one slide wire 21 and, consequently, only one wire 20 to actuate the cam 36 in one ,di-rec+1 tion. However, under some'circumstances: more than one pilot is used; To take care. of such a situation the respective lugs 40 are provided with as many apertures 41 ,asthere are wires 20, for instance, see Figure 6. The arm 34 is likewise provided with an enlarged cross bar 42 which coacts withclampq43 actuated by screws 44 to clamp'the var-ions slide.,wires 21 in. place, as illustrated, in Figure "I; ,In-the present instance there are two Bowden wires. 21 but provision has beenmade for more. Thearm 44* is provided with an aperture through which'the rod 45 is slidingly fitted. This rod is provided with a thumb member46 so that the rod may be actuated atany time. Asshown'in Figure 1, rod 45 extends through the casing or apron 47 of-the. stoveatapoint near the center thereof and in? the front. After valve" 8 has been automatically closed as just described. and it is desired to 1 open the same and relight pilot 6 manually, the

thumb member 46 is pressedinwardly whereupon rod 45 will slide inwardly to the position shown in Figure 5,. thus swinging the. cam 36 over to functioning position. I As rod 45 is loosely. mounted the cam=36- may be readily swung. back to the dotted position at any time any, of wires 20'are pulled. By this; arrangement of rod 45 and associated parts, valve; 8 maybe opened without going inback' of the stove where-the .valve usually positioned to be out of the way. When either of the pilots 5 or 7 goes out, cam 36 will be moved over to the dotted position shown in Figure 5 quickly and automatically. It will be understood that after the valve 8 has been closed automatically it will be necessary to manually open the same by pushing the thumb member 46. It will then be necessary toignite both pilots 5 and '7. These pilots will automatically ignite the gas in any of V the burners when any particular burner or burners are turned on. In this Way the device produces a safe condition with respect to the stove, as the pilot will automatically relight the burners incase any one of them goes out. For instance,

if a pot or other container is placed on one of the burners and that burner ignited, heat will be produced in the usual way. In case the contents of the container should boil over and put out the flameof the burner, gas would continue to flow and almost instantly the pilot would ignite the gas so that as long. as the pilot burns the gas would be continually reignited, .if necessary.

turned off until manually turned on again. In

this way anyone may light any of the burners andfeel perfectly safe, knowing. that if thepilot goes out. all of the gas to the stove will be turned off and remain turned off.

Figures 8 to 10, inclusive, show a modified construction of manually actuated'means to that shown in Fig. 5 of the preferred structure. In this form of the inventionv the swinging member or cam 36 is the. same as in the preferred form except that-a notch .36 has been. provided so that it may properly swing over to an inoperativev position. Also in this form' of the invention the lugs 40 are arranged at-a high' point sothat one ormore 'slide.=wires are connected thereto above the rod 45' instead of below-the same as shown inv Figure .5. In this form of. the invention a .knob. 47 2 is used instead .of the thumb member 46 whereby the rod 45 may be rotated. A double. fa'celcam .48 is rigidly secured to the bracket 32 so that the pin 49 which extends through. the rod 45' may engage the respective. cam faces 48 and 48 as shown in'Figure 9-. The pin 49iextends entirely through the rod 49' andis clamped rigidly thereto by a suitable set screw 50. A coil spring 51 has one end connected with rod 45". and the other end extending through an opening in the bracket 52' as shown in Figure 8", whereby when-the rod 45 is rotated to. cause a forward movementof the 'rodagainst the cam 36'for swinging the same to the position shown in Figure 8, the spring will be wound, and when the knob 4'7 is released the spring will automatically :unwind and, consequently, move the parts back to their inoperative position as shown in Figure. .8. ,Thisis another form of moving the cam 36 to an operative position and one which may be ,easily done-asthe power'of the entire hand is used and the action is that of a cam asthe pin 49 slides along the cam faces 48' and 4871.. This gives an extra power wherebythecam 36 may be ,easily actuated so as to open thevalve 8. While the description has been directed to aspring closed valveitwill beevident that the valve might be gravityclosed ito 'A ja rte rib

or the parts may best): connected up so asto positively open and close the valve without the use of gravity or a spring.

While a slide wire has been described and shown in the drawings as means for transmitting power to actuate the cam 36, it will be understood that other mechanisms might be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. The principal aim in this respect is to provide a convenient way of operating the cam 36 from the front of the stove or other heating apparatus. It will also be understood that the device could be used on pilots which are used in connection with water heaters or at other places where gas and pilot lights are used.

We claim:-

1. A device of the character described including a spring closed valve, means including a swinging member operative to normally hold the valve open, automatically actuated means operative to pull said swinging member to an inoperative position whereby said valve close, hand operated means for moving said swinging member to cause said valve to open, said hand operated means including a rotatable rod having projections near one end, a stationary cam coacting with said projections whereby when said rod is rotated said projections will ride over said cam and move the rod longitudinally against said swinging member to move the same to an inoperative position, and spring means automatically rotating said rod back to its former position.

2. In a gas stove, a safety device comprising a pilot for said gas stove, a gas supply pipe, a spring closed valve arranged in said gas supply pipe, a swinging cam formed with a high point and a low point with a stop adjacent each point, said cam being operable whenpositioned so that the high point engages the valve it will remain open, and when it engages the low point it will remain closed, said stop limiting the swinging movement of the cam to cause a full opening or a full closing of the valve, said cam being operable to move the valve against its spring when swung in one direction, a manually actuated rod for swinging said cam so that the high point thereof will cause said valve to open, comprising a pin carried by said rod, a stationary cam coacting with said pin so that when said rod is rotated the cam will cause the rod to move longitudinally and thereby cause the rod to push the cam so as to swing the same to one extreme position, a wire connected with said cam, a spring acting on the wire to pull the Wire and thereby pull the cam to a nonfunctioning position, a metallic thermostat extending across the pilot of said gas stove operable to render said spring inoperative to actuate said swinging cam, said thermostat when cold moving to a second position whereby said spring is allowed to function.

WOODS S. WALKER.

TRYGVE FORBERG. 

